Macon Reporter

Village of Warrensburg Village Board met Nov. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Pro-tem Hackl called the meeting to order at the Warrensburg Village Hall on Monday, November 6, 2023 at 5:30 p.m., reminding everyone the meeting was being recorded.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited.

ROLL CALL: Present: Trustees Fisher, Hackl, K. Hood, P. Hood & Netherton. Also present were Chief Wheeler, DPW Allen, Atty Jankowicz & VAC Hundley. Trustee Freeman arrived around 6:22 p.m.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Pro-Tem Hackl read a letter from Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski regarding a Lunch & Learn with USDA Rural Development to be held November 15, 2023 at the Decatur Public Library. He inquired if any trustees would like to attend as they need to know before leaving tonight.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Cindy Hundley of 217 N. Durfee was in the public and presented her support for John Oakley and reasons against Leland Hackl. Dave Sapp of 625 E Illinois was in attendance and spoke in support of Leland Hackl. Mr. Hawkins had a question for Atty Jankowicz in regards to the status for the election of an Acting Village President. Atty Jankowicz responded it hasn’t changed and explained the process. Mr. Sapp commented on the Open Meetings Act and whether it was at the discretion of the board to hold a closed session and if afterwards, would the minutes be available for the public at some point.

NEW BUSINESS: Mayor Pro-tem Hackl asked if everyone had a copy of the TIF information for 121 Coffee Run. He asked that they read it and gave them a few minutes to look over the materials. A motion was made by Trustee Fisher & seconded by Trustee Netherton to proceed with the payment of $35,000.00 to 121 Coffee Run. Trustee Fisher felt it was fairly safe to go ahead and make the payment even though it states in the TIF Agreement that payment wasn’t to be made until after the redevelopment project was completed. Trustee Hood agreed.

Atty Jankowicz stated it was the Village money and it was potentially at risk, i.e. the project is not completed, the property is sold or other scenarios. He proposed the possibility of a mortgage on the property and once the financing was secured by 121 Coffee Run, it would become a second mortgage. Acting Village President Hackl asked if we would be going against our agreement if we made the payment. Technically yes; it would be modified but Atty Jankowicz was trying to come up with a solution which would benefit 121 Coffee Run and yet protect the Village.

Acting Village President Hackl asked what action the board needed to take tonight. The board could take action tonight to reimburse them for the $35,000.00 and Moran Economic would still need to be involved in issuing documents to modify the agreement; the motion can be defeated; or there could be something done along the lines of establishing a mortgage on the property.

Trustee Fisher asked if it would be proper to withdraw the motion until Moran Economic has a chance to review the paperwork. Atty Jankowicz responded that Moran has reviewed everything and this email is their suggestions. It would certainly be proper for the board to take further time to review if they would prefer.

Atty Jankowicz stated he sees that the board has 3 options:

Approve as is and process the request for payment. Moran Economic would prepare an amendment indicating 121 Coffee Run is reimbursed for their $35,000.00 now.

Deny the request for payment.

If the board wants some security for the repayment of the $35,000.00 redevelopment project for $1,000,000.00 not be completed, such as a mortgage or lien, then the original motion would fail. Moran would be directed to provide a new document which would be presented as an agenda item at the next board meeting.

Acting Village President Hackl asked what it would cost the Village to change the original agreement. Atty Jankowicz stated the total fees would be approximately $300.00. Mr. Hackl also asked if we would be setting a precedent by changing the agreement.

Trustee P. Hood stated she felt that the possible fees involved with placing a lien or mortgage on the property until completed would be minimal compared with the potential project when completed. She also asked if a timeframe could be included in the amendment, such as a start date or completion date. VAC Hundley mentioned there is a default section in the agreement. It was asked when their plans are to begin building the new project and Aryn Callarman stated in the spring. She also stated this building will be their headquarters for all the 5 locations, including their kitchen, training facility, administrative offices, warehouse space, etc. She prefers to keep it local.

Roll call vote: Yes – none. No – Trustees Fisher, P. Hod, Hackl. Netherton & K. Hood. Motion is lost.

A motion was made by Trustee Fisher & seconded by Trustee Netherton to authorize the early payment of $35,000.00 upon 121 Coffee Run executing a note and forgivable mortgage in that amount, which can be changed to a 2nd mortgage upon 121 Coffee Run borrowing from its lender. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood & Netherton. No – none. Abstain – Trustee Freeman. Motion carried.

VAC Hundley mentioned there are plans to have the One Tree – Many Branches Community Christmas Tree with the lighting on December 9, 2023. A meeting with Denise Cass to finalize plans, including times is set for Friday.

ENGINEER: Milano & Grunloh will hold a public hearing on November 20, 2023 at 5:15 pm regarding the water main project. Acting Village President asked where the hearing was to be held.

Mr. Hawkins asked what the hearing was for. Atty Jankowicz mentioned it was due to the first application being rejected.

Stephanie Brown from Chastain & Assoc was in attendance. She didn’t have anything tonight.

Acting Village President Hackl stated he would be getting with Stephanie in regards to a previous conversation. She did mention if the Village wanted something in for the IEPA loan cycle, it would need to be completed soon.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee Netherton, seconded by Trustee K. Hood to approve the minutes of the October 16, 2023 regular meeting. Motion carried. A motion was made by Trustee K. Hood, seconded by Trustee Netherton to approve the minutes of the October 16, 2023 closed session meeting. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Netherton, Freeman, K. Hood, Hackl & P. Hood. No – none. Trustee Fisher abstained. Motion carried.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK: Trustee Freeman moved and Trustee Netherton seconded to approve the Balance Sheet, pay the bills and make the appropriate transfers for November 6, 2023. She asked the trustees to look at the AP report first and pointed out some of the larger invoices and their purpose. Because of the invoices, there will need to be transfers made from IL Funds from MFT, TIF & TORT. Trustee Freeman asked if the payment to the Perfect Pair was their complete payment or a partial payment. It is their complete reimbursement. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Fisher, Hackl. P. Hood, Freeman & Netherton. No – none. Motion carried.

FINANCE: Trustee P. Hood made a report of the Personnel Committee who had met to go through the applications for the Village Administrative Clerk position. At the time of their review, there were over 120 applications through Indeed and a couple in-person applications. They did narrow it down but there is still some doubt of finding a qualified person. We need to get someone in the office that will be able to fill all the functions currently being done. Trustee Fisher mentioned the job listing needed to be narrowed down more. He wondered if it should be readvertised with some guidelines.

Trustee P. Hood moved & Trustee Freeman seconded to receive and file the amended audit for FY23 presented by Sikich. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Hackl, P. Hood, Fisher, Netherton, Freeman & K. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

Trustee P. Hood moved to go into Closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss the selection of a person to fill the vacancy in the office of board president pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(3). Trustee Freeman seconded. Roll call vote: Trustees Netherton, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood, K. Hood & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton didn’t have anything.

POLICE: Trustee Fisher didn’t have anything.

Chief Wheeler presented his monthly report. He drew attention to some of the training done by the officers this month. Chief Wheeler asked whether the board would like to continue doing the Christmas Lighting contest. A motion was made by Trustee Fisher and seconded by Trustee Freeman to continue with the contest for up to $500.00, with the funding from video gaming. Roll call vote: Yes - Trustees Fisher, P. Hood, Hackl, K. Hood, Freeman & Netherton. No – none. Motion carried.

SEWER: Trustee Hackl wanted to clear up the IEPA meeting on October 18. He had talked with DPW Allen and they didn’t feel like it was necessary for Trustee Hackl to be involved when it actually involved things at the sewer plant. DPW Allen contacted him right after the meeting. Trustee Hackl mentioned several attempts to contact Caleb Ruyle with no response so he reached out to the IEPA director with no response. He did finally receive a call from Mr. Ruyle who was ok with Trustee Hackl not being there. DPW Allen has also sent the 21-day response letter to the IEPA. DPW Allen mentioned this is where we need to get the engineers to put things in order to get things where they need to be. There are little things we can do but with the restrictions here, it is hard to get back in compliance until everything is situated. Trustee K. Hood asked what were the little things to which DPW Allen responded items like the pump and dissolved oxygen. He did give information to IEPA in regards to a possible 5-year plan to reduce the sludge, replace the pumps, etc. Trustee Freeman asked if there was a committee meeting scheduled with the engineers to start the project process. Trustee Hood mentioned it was also discussed the Village needs to weigh its options in regards to continuing to fix our equipment or tie into the Decatur Sanitary District.

STREETS: Trustee K. Hood didn’t have anything.

WATER: Trustee Freeman moved & Trustee P. Hood seconded to approve the have Fleener & Roberts to replace the brake pads & rotors on the 2014 F250 truck, not to exceed a total of $928.30. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees P. Hood, Netherton, Freeman, K. Hood, Fisher & Hackl. No – none. Motion carried.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen mentioned there was a pump that needs to be ordered for the sewer plant to clear the air lines. The lowest estimate was $518.18. A motion was made by Trustee Fisher, seconded by Trustee Netherton to purchase the pump from Indelco for $518.18 plus shipping. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Freeman, Netherton, Fisher, Hackl & P. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

DPW Allen reported the 2007 Chevy truck had been taken in for inspection. It needed outside tie rods. He asked VAC Hundley what the cost was. She didn’t have it at the table since only one estimate had been received. He went on to state Foremost would be able to do the tie rods but not the alignment. It was around $560.00. He stated he had contacted 5 or 6 places and didn’t get a response from them. A motion was made by Trustee K. Hood, seconded by Trustee Freeman to have Foremost replace the tie rods at a cost of $570.75. Then it will have to be taken back for inspection. Roll call vote: Trustees Netherton, Fisher, Hackl. P. Hood, K. Hood & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Atty Jankowicz didn’t have anything.

The board left for closed session at 7:02 p.m.

The meeting reconvened at 8:38 p.m.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS: Trustee Netherton moved and Trustee P. Hood seconded to appoint Leland Hackl as Acting Village President. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, K. Hood, P. Hood, Hackl, Netherton & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

Atty Jankowicz thanked the board for their serious discussions. He’s been with the Village 43 years and this was one of the toughest decisions the various boards have faced.

Acting Village President wanted to clear the air on a couple of things. He wants to make things right and not let the Village down. He plans on keeping his vote as a board member until someone is found. He asked what needed to be done to fill his trustee position. Atty Jankowicz stated once someone is found, he would submit a letter of resignation as a trustee and then issue the oath of office to the trustee. He is committed to serving as Acting Village President. He asked for the board to trust him as well.

Trustee K. Hood moved and Trustee Freeman seconded to adjourn. Motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

The next meeting will be on Monday, November 20, 2023.

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